Begin Again
by Atiannala
Summary: Hermione’s latest crusade might be more than Professor Snape can handle! Slightly AU. SSHG Rated M for later chapters.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Harry Potter or any of the like.

**Summary: **Hermione's latest crusade might be more than Professor Snape can handle!

**Important info: **So this story will be mostly-- but not all-- cannon. It will disregard the epilogue of _Deathly Hallows_ as well as Snape's death. Details on how this occurred will be explained in the next post as we begin the proper Chapter one (it's all already planned out). So for now enjoy the prologue.

**Prologue**

Severus Snape burst through the Headmistress's office and strode cross the floor seemingly in one step. "What," he bellowed, "Pray tell, is the meaning of _that_?"

Blinking her eyes innocently, the Headmistress responded, "What is what Severus?"

Feeling certain that the older witch knew _exactly _what he was referring to and was only playing dumb to get a rise from him-- which was working-- the Slytherin answered with narrowed eyes and clenched teeth. "That…that _monstrosity_ outside your window."

The Headmistress glanced casually over her shoulder at the new addition to the Hogwarts grounds. "Oh, that…" For three months a large dark green tent had stood directly west of the school masking the construction of a new building and piquing the curiosity of staff and students alike. And as the Headmistress had been very tight lipped about the mysterious building, it left everyone at Hogwarts guessing what lay underneath the tent.

As the tent had been green, Severus was inclined to believe-- or hope-- that the building housed something useful for Slytherin-- useful for himself. But when the curtain was finally banished twenty minutes ago, and the warm rays of the afternoon sun caressed the building for the first time, Severus's eyes took in the sight and anger surged within him. The sign on the shiny new building read: _Hogwarts Preschool for Witchlets and Wizards. _

To top it off, the east side of the new building-- the one directly facing the school proper-- was decorated with a mural of many children and teachers having a grand time learning and playing together. Severus felt he was going to be sick. He turned on the spot and marched straight to the Head's office.

"A _DAYCARE _Minerva? We needed a bloody _daycare?_" There was no denying that quite a bit of money had been spent on the new facility; money that Severus though could have been spent elsewhere.

"Well, Severus to be honest I was against it at first too, but the idea was proposed with such detail and consideration-- a good deal of research was done before hand-- and the facts showed that not only was the idea practical, but also popular. And the set up has benefit for the wizarding community at large. Really Severus, the idea is quite progressive." The Headmistress rambled on with words and phrases that didn't seem quite natural coming from her aged mouth.

Severus grumbled. There was only one witch who could be behind this, "Granger." He spat the name out as if it were a curse.

"Yes?" came a soft call from the stairwell.

Damn! That girl had impeccable timing. She had been nothing but a thorn in Severus's side since she started teaching two years ago. Not that she deliberately went out of her way to bother Severus Snape-- for her own part she harbored no ill feelings toward him and she didn't nothing treat him cordially, only furthering his dislike. Something about her presence among the Hogwarts unnerved him. When forced to analyze the relationship for professional reasons, he would always conclude his discomfort came from having previously taught him. None of his other students had yet to rejoin the staff at Hogwarts on a permanent basis and he had no need to think of them as anything else but former students as opposed to Hermione who he had to accept begrudgingly as a Professor.

Severus whirled round and started on the young Professor. "Ms. Granger, what harebrained scheme are you forcing upon us now? Why must we continually suffer your ill-conceived crusades which cause nothing but inconvenience to _everyone_ involved?"

Hermione stood a little straighter, smoothing out her robes, "You will find Professor , that this project is well thought through and the conclusion of many years of research and comparative studies. We anticipate this turning out a great success! Oh, and once again, please call me Professor Granger," and as an afterthought she added, "or Hermione." He was after all the only staff member with whom she was not on a first name basis.

Brushing off his irritation, Hermione addressed the Headmistress. "Minerva, here is the break down of the first term enrollment by classes and behind it is a list of more prospective students come fall. I've started a waiting list, depending on whether we can make more classes."

If there was one thing that Severus hated it was being deliberately ignored. "This whole thing is madness. This is a school, an institution of learning. For providing education, not babysitters!"

Hermione sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. "Professor Snape, really, the point of a pre-school is to teach children the tools they need to become successful students once they enter school. Children learn so quickly when they are young, Professor, they soak up information like sponges. It is in their interest really. In addition, it seems that in these times, when family structure has been disrupted by war and the economy still hasn't recovered from Fudge's mistakes, a preschool facility is really quite useful."

"Oh well, that's different, why don't we open our own primary school as well?" Severus said smoothly, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Oh that'd be great," she returned, "I trust you will want to head that project for us." She really didn't appreciate him trying to thwart her ideas seeing as he had no part in them.

"Yes, I will. In fact I'll arrange it so that we just take the children from their parents as soon as they are six months old, keep them for seventeen years and then hand them back to the parents right in time for the kids to find their own place! It will be so _convenient_ for the parents that way!"

As Hermione opened her mouth to give her rather biting reply-- Severus knew exactly how to push her buttons—the Headmistress stood up slamming her hands on the desk.

"Enough!" She was breathless. This would head in only one direction. As nice as Hermione was, she and Snape never saw eye-to-eye and Minerva had been in this situation too many times in the past two years. "Honestly, from the way you two are behaving I'd swear that you were the ones in Primary school. Now both of you just calm down and have a seat."

Hermione and Severus looked blankly at the Headmistress and then at the two chairs by the desk as they realized their own foolishness. After the pair was seated, the Headmistress took her own seat and continued.

"Now, here is how I am going to handle this situation." She paused to an icy glare to Severus when he attempted to cut in. "Since Severus is so interested in the necessity of this school he will be the one to help you with your office business, planning and summer classes." The old mage held up a hand to silence Hermione, who was about to protest, and Severus, who was mouthing "summer classes?"

"Yes, the Pre-school will have it's first term this summer, though the enrollment will be small. It will give us some time to work all the kinks out of our childcare system. Once fall comes the preschool enrollment will double at least. I can't help Hermione run things over there as I have too much on my plate here and we have yet to find a suitable replacement for me there. And as you, Severus, have requested access to your labs and quarters during the summer so that you can continue your current project, this is a good way for you to 'earn your keep' as it will."

And before either could interrupt, Minerva amended, "And there is no 'getting out' of this. This is my decision and I will not go back on it. I believe the current situation would do you both a world of good. And as it is getting late and I have much to attend to I must adjourn our little meeting for now. Have a good evening both of you! And might I suggest the two of you getting together in the near future to discuss the basic plans for our new school."

There was no arguing with a stern and dismissive Minerva, and both Severus and Hermione knew better than to waste their breath. Both reluctantly stood and left the office.

The Headmistress watched the two receding forms and when they finally disappeared, she shook her head and gently massaged her temples. "Those two will be the death of me!"

Behind her, a grinning portrait of Albus Dumbledore let go a laugh, "You have no idea." The mirth in his eyes shining brightly in the dim office.

**Author's note: **Hey guys hope this is alright so far. Don't worry, this chapter is short because it is only a prologue. Once we get into the story the chapters will be quite long. Enjoy!

Don't forget to review!


	2. Cat and Also Cat

Cat and Also Cat

**Author Note: **It has been a long time since I have uploaded items to . I am working on a Mac, and the last I remember the auto-formatting of word on the mac was lost on . (For instance, my ellipses would turn into some funky combination of symbols.) I an going to try to use things like horizontal line breaks, if they do not work please let me know and I will fix and re-upload the chapter. Thanks! :)

**Cat and Also Cat**

Severus knew from the first moment he set eyes on that blasted sign that this preschool would mean disaster for him; however, he hadn't anticipated his own mouth sealing that fate. If he had merely looked at the new building and sighed with disappointment-- as many other Professors had-- he wouldn't be in this horrid mess right now. Now he was... _involved _of all things. Cursing his rotten luck, he wished he had a better taste for alcohol. Years spent looking over both shoulders as a double agent had made the habit impossible. Since the war ended he had learned to indulge once in a while (on a good day), but was still unable to completely drown his sorrows.

Still, he poured himself a glass of Fire Whiskey; it couldn't hurt to try! As he swirled the amber liquid around in the cup, he though back on the past few years. During the battle of Hogwarts he had been left for dead. Everyone severely underestimated his abilities as both a brilliant Potions master and a rather well informed spy. Knowing Voldemort as he did, he knew Voldemort would rather torment someone than end a life quickly. Severus was prepared for all sorts of unusual execution methods.

He had always assumed that Voldemort would kill him before the end, and so on the day of what was sure to be the final battle Severus was extra careful. As he stood facing the Dark Lord in the Shrieking Shack that day, the only certain way to kill the Potions Master was the killing curse. His assumptions were correct as Voldemort chose Nagini, his favourite weapon, to exact Severus's death.

As one of many preventative measures, Severus had created a potion that utilized Nagini's venom to create a temporary vaccine, against the poison. He had extracted the venom from the blood of a previous victim, and had been taking the potion in small doses for a moth prior to the attack.

When Nagini's teeth sank into Severus's neck, his body had no problem fighting off the poison. But the bite itself still proved dangerous and for a while it seemed like the blood loss would kill him. It was during the clean up of the grounds that McGonagall discovered that Severus was feebly clinging onto life. He was brought back to Hogwarts where he was nursed to health. The road was long and slow, but he was back on his feet by the time Hogwarts re-opened. And by that time, those campaigning for him had been able to clear his name. It was just one more thing he held against Hermione Granger and her two dunderheaded friends.

Having devoted his life to a struggle between light and dark, there was little time left to cultivate his own interest much-- he was young when he gave up the ability to plan his own life, becoming a pawn of the war. Once his injuries healed, he accepted Minerva's offer of a teaching position-- sadly enough teaching was all the life knew. It was a comfortable occupation which provided itself with a new series of daily challenges to break up the monotony of life. The war had left him feeling very worn and tired so he welcomed his old job-- it was a little late for starting over after all.

Finally, Severus had been able to achieve a relative amount of peace in his life. He was actually able to take time for himself and choose his own projects. His potions lab could finally be used the way he had wanted to use it-- for developing new potions.

His grip tightened on the glass he was holding. That Granger girl had shown up and ruined everything. Her existence itself had encroached on Severus's newfound contentment, as if she were trying to make him miserable. There was no doubt that when Hermione asked him about his new potions projects she was genuinely interested, but a man needed to be able to do research in peace.

On the few occasions when Severus had felt inclined to divulge bits of information about his newest potions, Granger pointed out ideas that might enhance the potion, introduce a new way of thinking about the project which added more possibilities, or in a rare case make a potion actually brewable rather than theoretical. Those comments were passed off as stupid to the girl's face, but it irked Severus when the suggestions made the potion work perfectly. Severus Snape hated being beaten to the punch.

And now that girl and her damn ideas were going to cause him to surrender his summer to care for a bunch of bothersome brats. The glass finally found its way to Severus's lips. He took one sip and pitched the entire cup at his fireplace. The flames burst forth excitedly as the glass broke.

_Damn Granger! _

A few floor up, on the other side of the castle, Hermione Granger was having similar thoughts:

_Damn Snape and his big mouth! It's the only thing on his ruddy face larger than his hideous nose! _

Hermione stopped pacing and took a deep breath. Just because Snape was encroaching on her plans with intent to kill, didn't mean she had to get nasty. Shaking her head she sighed and went about making herself ready for bed, if only to distract herself from these thoughts.

But as she slipped into her pajamas and began to comb out her tangled mess of hair, her mind returned to its previous course. Still, it was wrong to lash out against the Potions Master because he wasn't really the problem so much as his involvement was. And if anyone was to blame for his being involved it was Minerva-- Snape himself made it very clear that he thought very little of this project and had no interest whatsoever in helping out. And being saddled with an indifferent partner was Minerva's fault. Though, Hermione still found herself cursing Snape and not Minerva.

_And with good cause too_, she reasoned. It had taken Hermione the better part of two years to get this project to a working point. The idea itself had come in a rather round about way. Ginny made a remark during a lunch one day about how she felt guilty that Harry was their sole source of income. As a responsible woman she'd love to contribute to the household, but she was at home with a two year-old and expecting another within the week. Good wizarding upbringing didn't allow for her to have a life outside her children right now.

Ginny Potter loved her children and husband more than anything else in the world, but she never imagined herself becoming a housewife. Hermione, who had known little about raising young children in the wizarding world, was shocked to find out that there was little help available to new mothers.

It was only in the last thirty years that a day school had been erected for children age six to ten whose parents were of magical nature, and the majority of wizarding mothers did not enroll their children. This was partly due to the fact that it was still expected in wizard families that the mother would teach the children everything they needed to know prior to attending boarding school and partly because there was no need. As Hermione looked at enrollment trends she noticed a slight spike around the time Voldemort came into great influence the first time and a steady incline since his last reign of terror. It wasn't until recently that the need for a day school had arisen.

Hermione winced as her comb caught on a knot, and worked quickly to pull it out. Times had changed on many fronts. Fudge's lack of response and preparation during Voldemort's second rise was the root of economic problems that would take a long time to iron out, even with a good Minister of Magic. Also, the social structure of wizarding Britain had been shifted as many wizards met an untimely end during Voldemort's supremacy. There were now many single-parent families and families who needed both parents to work.

If that weren't enough reason for Hermione, she stumbled upon a highly accreted series of sociology articles titled _Wizards Through the Ages_. Her generation was being described as the Generation of Hope, the Light Generation or the Generation of Change interchangeably. Born at the end of or after the first rise of Voldermort these children were raised in a time of relevant peace and a relieved attitude that was apparent in politics

of the time. Anti-muggle sentiment was at an all time low and relations between countries were peaceful. In the recent years when Voldemort threatened the peaceful life style these young adults had grown up with they rose up and re-claimed victory. It was generally acknowledged that the success of this war had a great deal to do with the young community at the time-- a group of go-getters who won't be satisfied to watch life pass them by.

It was this article that had given Hermione her idea. If her generation were gong to be working more than previous generations, then they would need some sort of help with children. She spent much time interviewing females aged sixteen to thirty-seven as well as doing many anonymous polls, and when she had enough information to show that the women of prime child-bearing age would benefit greatly from a magical day-care, she went to see the Headmistress. Eventually the project was accepted.

The success of this project was important to Hermione. Since her campaign on house elves she had been forced to concede that you could only help those who wanted help. But here it seemed like the witch mothers of Britain were asking for her help. The more she approached people, the more they seemed enthusiastic about her ideas. Several even kept in touch with her asking for information on how the project was coming.

The children of these women would be the first students of her new school. The first term was being called 'experimental' because she wanted to make certain that they had worked out all the bugs before the school was opened to the public. Snape wasn't too far off in his teasing either. Hermione had found the primary day school to be sorely lacking and was hoping that once her school was up and running, she could grandfather her students in adding one grade each year until Hogwarts offered a complete school system.

Innovative and catching as her idea was for to the parents in her generation, she was certain that if one person could bring the entire process to a stop it was Severus Snape. Sighing Hermione pulled the comb from her hair and set it on the dresser. What was she going to do about Snape? She couldn't just sit by and watch him ruin everything.

As Hermione grew, she discovered teaching to be her true passion. As a teacher she never stopped learning there was always new material to consider. But even better was the joy watching her students brought to her. She loved seeing the light bulbs click as they understood a new concept as well as the amazed look on their faces when she shocked them with some new fact or concept. For a brief moment, Hermione considered that maybe, just maybe, Severus Snape shared a similar feeling even if he didn't show it-- why else would he still be teaching after his spy role had ended? If her secretly harbored her passions; then, when her realized how much such young children could learn and how much they could grow with a proper institution, they would see eye to eye.

The comb snagged across another knot and Hermione flinched in pain. Memories of her past experience with Snape flooded her mind all at once. Who was she kidding? The only joy Severus Snape got from teaching was the sick pleasure he got from making young children fear him. A man like that would be dreadful for her preschool! Sighing, she put the comb back on her dresser; this was going to be a long summer.

"Yes. And why exactly do you wish to work at the Hogwarts Preschool?" The words sounded strange even as they left his lips. He couldn't believe that Miss Granger had given him the painful task of interviewing perspective…teachers. Mentally he cringed at the word. Babysitter was more like it.

The blonde witch in front of him shifted uncomfortably under his intense glare. "Well I… I've always loved kids. They're so… small." Her eyes were large and the more she fidgeted the more her breast popped over the top of her low-cut robes.

Severus's eyebrow twitched. This woman-- if she could even be called that considering she barely looked nineteen-- was so incredibly idiotic that Severus wouldn't even trust her to look _at _a baby let alone work with several. As this was his fourth interview of the day, he was feeling particularly vengeful. A smirk came to his lips. Today was not a good day to be an interviewee.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

"I'm sorry, THE POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED!"

Hermione arrived just in time to jump out of the way before being burled over by a distraught brunette running as if for her life. Great.

She walked into the preschool office, which was painted a soothing shade of light green, to face the inevitable. "So, the position has been filled has it?" she asked raising a thin eyebrow slightly.

When Severus turned around he was pinching the bridge of his nose. He let out a grunt of displeasure, before he answered. "It would have been, had any suitable applicants been sent my way today. Now leave, as you are the twelfth contributing factor to my headache."

Outraged didn't cover what Hermione was feeling. "Severus, you interviewed eleven women today and you didn't find even one suitable?!" Her voice was rising at an alarming rate.

Clearing his throat, Severus replied immediately, "No, I interviewed two women, four whores, three nincompoops, one man who may have been a woman (or vise versa) and one pathetic excuse for a human being all of whom were utterly unqualified.

"Un…unqualified? UNQUALIFIED?! Severus we are looking for a _receptionist_! All she has to do is let parents into the building, identify adults coming to collect children or sort, file and replicate paperwork. Oh, and occasional phone call. You're telling me that not one of those eleven were thus QUALIFIED?!" Her chest was heaving up and down as she struggled to maintain her temper.

"Oh, we were hiring _receptionists?_ Hmm…that's different then. Still, I wouldn't have hired any one of them to lick the dirt off my boots. Of course if my requirements are too steep, then maybe you should conduct your interviews yourself."

Hermione flew across the room in two strides and slammed her hands on the desk. "Do you know what I did today?" She hissed through her teeth, "The amount of paperwork I have to do each day could fill a small classroom. Not to mention, contacting parents and collecting tuitions and filing and sending receipts. I have to organize classrooms. The list goes on. And on top of that I am grading term papers so I have time to grade finals next week before grades are due! And all I asked you to do were a couple interviews and hire one person. And you couldn't even do that! Are you actually going to work with me on anything here? You _have_ to do this. McGonagall is holding us-- both of us-- accountable. If you fight me on every step _both _of our jobs are going to be at stake!"

Severus jumped up to counter, but he never got any words out. As he stood his chair crashed into the wall behind him and something jumped off a shelf behind him and began attacking. He was surrounded by darkness and whatever held him gripped at him tighter. The more he tried to get free, the worse it got. Soon he heard two very disconcerting noises. The first sounded like someone gasping and shouting wildly and the second sound was laughter. After a minute, he realized the first noise was coming from himself and the second from Miss Granger. "What in…" he started.

"Se- Severus," she called through her laughter. Soon a hand grasped his elbow and the darkness lifted. Once he was freed, he realized that his attacker was a multicolored piece of cloth.

"What is _that?_"

She laughed again. Of all the infuriating noises, there was nothing so irksome as that laugh. And now she was helping him, pulling the fabric away and leading him out of it.

"It's a parachute professor. It's for the kids gym class. You know they hold it and make waves. They can hide. Play cat an mouse." Her laughs died down ending in a sigh. "Come on, let's go back to the castle and have a cup of tea. If we are going to be working so closely together all summer than we are going to have to come to an understanding. Call it a truce if you will."

Severus struggled to free himself the rest of the way before glaring at her angrily. Feeling his dignity compromised, he rushed past her knocking into her on his way. When she fell off balance, he caught her by her elbow. "I will not call it anything, Miss Granger, because there will be no truce. You are nothing but an insufferable wench whose very existence vexes me in ways that there are not yet words to describe. I would not share a cup a tea with you if there were no other witches or muggles left to share tea with!"

With that, he stormed past her and off to the castle.

At first, Hermione was feeling angry, very angry. But she soon realized that she had a clear upper hand in this situation. Severus was only allowed to remain at Hogwarts for the summer if he helped her, if he stopped helping he'd have to leave. Which meant that their whole relationship had changed: Hermione was now the boss. A smirk came to her face as she realized the full implications of this statement.

The next morning, when Severus arrived at the preschool, Hermione was already there waiting for him.

It was too early on a Sunday morning for such a large smile, and yet there it was plastered to Hermione Granger's face. Severus scowled all the more, if only to try to darken her cheer. As far as he could see there was no reason to be cheerful about this whole mess. He had been in the Head's office until late the previous evening trying to come to some other arrangement with the Headmistress. It was all to no avail-- he was stuck here like it or not, and Severus certainly did _not_!

"Good morning, Professor," came Hermione's cheery voice, "I trust you are doing well."

A groan escaped his lips before he could even respond. "I assure you, Miss Granger, I am not a pleasant man. So if you don't mind, spare me the pleasantries. Am I to interview more idiots today?"

She shook her head sending her untamed mane of hair flying madly. It seems that being Sunday it had been neglected. "I've decided, that until you are a little more comfortable with the goings on of a pre-school, you should maintain non-interactive jobs. I will be holding interviews for a receptionists while you ready the classrooms."

During his tenure as a teacher, he had readied many classrooms. This was certain to be a simple enough job with the added perk of solitude. "Fine by me. Anything particular need to be done?" He narrowed his eyes and looked down at her over his nose as menacingly as appropriate, warning her not to say yes. Apparently, his threat went unnoticed.

Hermione unrolled a scroll showing a map of the facilities before getting into the details, which Severus would pointedly ignore. "There are seven classrooms divided up by ages, all indicated here. Then in the back we have the gymnasium, music room and media center. Each of these must be cleaned to ensure all residue from the construction was removed. There is an inventory sheet for each room which needs to be checked and signed. After you sign please file them in the office as each teacher will have to sign it as well. Decorating will be up to each teacher, so you needn't worry about that. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask."

"Well, if you are sure there is nothing else," he muttered as he turned his back on her and walked toward the first classroom.

Hermione went into her office. There was a half hour before her interviews and she needed to get her resumes in order. She absently wondered how long it would be before Severus came storming into her office. Would he burst in immediately or try to work things out for himself? The answer wasn't long in the coming.

"GRANGER!" The sound was followed by heavy footsteps and the potions master appearing at her door.

"Miss Granger, care to tell me why none of the usual cleaning charms have an effect?" he asked through his teeth.

"That's because no charms will work in here Professor. With the amount of children in our school, it simply wouldn't do to have them causing accidental magic at any moment. Magic will appear rather in a controlled environment. So, the walls of this building are very special as they are made to ensure that no magic is done inside them. This is for the safety of students and staff alike."

Severus's growl was getting worse, "Then you want me to clean the whole thing by hand?"

"Yes. Why else would I ask you to do it? As the task must be completed by hand it will be very time consuming. As I need to do all the preparations that involve human contact, which is a lot, I simply wont have time to ready the classrooms. You are the only person left to do it."

"House elves?" he snarled. It seemed his temper was too hot for complex sentences.

Hermione shook her head innocently, "none can be afforded to us until after term and the teachers are coming right away for our training week-- which you will have to be present for by the way. Oh! You may need this." She held up a silver bucket full of soapy water and a sponge.

Infuriating. She had waited for him to find out about the magic instead of telling him. Words failed him. Severus stormed out of the office and into a classroom.

She called after his receding form, "Don't forget. Since there is no magic, you have to use a light switch!"

The sound of a door slamming in the distance was the only response.

Hermione settled back in her chair. Today was gong to be a good day.

Severus hated, nay loathed, Hermione Granger. By the time he finished with his first classroom, he was certain that she was the bane of his existence. The only reason she was on this earth was to make him wish from the very core of his being that he hadn't survived the war. Severus had not done such bothersome chores since he was a child living in his father's house. An experience he abhorred re-living. But the more he scrubbed the more the visions came back. He bit his tongue to distract himself. A grown man should not carry on like this. But even the pain in his mouth could not stop the words from coming back to him.

"Prove your allegiance to me, Severus. Prove that you detest muggle filth! Kill that piece of shit you call Father. Kill him and kill the filth inside you! Then you can join me!"

By the time Severus had finished with the classroom first classroom he was in a right awful mood. He had been scrubbing so hard, it was a wonder he didn't bore straight through all the surfaces.

Hermione Granger was no Leglimens, but after she hired her receptionist she peeked in on Severus and was certain something was wrong. Creeping away from the open door of his current classroom, she wondered at his behavior. There was no way he was that mad about cleaning, it had to be something else. But what?

In any case he was moving at a furious pace. Hermione briefly wondered if he realized how fast he was going or how hard he was scrubbing. If she knew anything about human anatomy, he was going to be in a world of pain tomorrow. What could make him act like that?

But, Hermione didn't wait around to find out. It wouldn't do to be caught staring by an irate Severus Snape. She preferred all of her limbs remain in one piece.

Severus had managed to clean every room by the end of the day-- Hermione hadn't expected him to be done until the following weekend. Hopefully he would calm down during the week. Perhaps take his built up anger out on his potions finals.

After avoiding him all week, Hermione scribbled out a note on a piece of parchment Thursday evening.

_Professor Snape, _

_I thank you for the hard work you put in at the preschool last weekend. Really it was more than satisfactory. There is not much that need to be taken care of this weekend. It is certainly not enough for two people. I shall be able to handle these last preparations myself. Please enjoy your weekend and I will see you Monday at eight in the morning for our training week. _

_All the best,_

_Hermione Granger _

Honestly! Only with Professor Snape could she feel like she had to tip toe around saying he had the weekend off. Wouldn't want to offend the blasted man! She rolled up her note and attached it to the leg of a tawny owl.

On her bed across the room, Crookshanks eyed the bird lazily with a feigned disinterest. Hermione knew that he loved chasing owls and would have a field day if she turned her back. Giggling, she snuggled onto the bed around the ginger cat. She was excited to decorate her classroom this weekend and it would be much easier if Snape wasn't around.

Monday came quickly, and Hermione stood eagerly in the entrance hall welcoming new teachers. She had put Mr. Dan, the receptionist, to work straight away signing in teachers and giving them their welcome packets, which included a map, a entrance card and a class roster among other things.

Finally, Severus Snape darkened the glass doorway to the preschool and Hermione rushed to greet him.

"Oh good, you're here. We're going to begin in about ten minutes." She looked around the room at the other teachers and her brow knitted briefly. "I'd tell you to mingle, but I doubt you'd enjoy that." Then she looked back up at him cheerily, "Anyhow, there's a breakfast table with coffee and pastries. Please help yourself!" And then she turned and got lost amongst the crowd.

Oh how he hated that bright smile!

"Good morning everyone!" Hermione stood in the front of the room as the people at the tabled stopped talking and slowed their chewing, turning their heads to look at her. Severus declined to sit and instead stood on the side of the room, a silent observer. As soon as it was quiet she began again.

"Goodmorning! I believe most of you have already met me, I'm Hermione Granger, the school director." She paused while the teachers in the audience clapped. It appeared that they all liked her or what they knew of her. Hermione waited for the clapping to die down and then stretched a hand out in Severus's direction. "And our assistant director is Severus Snape." The clapping was hesitant this time, as if everyone was unsure if he really belonged but in the end his status as a war hero was remembered and there were even a few cheers.

Hermione smiled that damn smile again before continuing. "We'd like to welcome you to Hogwarts Preschool!" She had to pause for more clapping. "If you need us at all you can find us in our offices located right behind me or in the four year-old room during the school day. Now so we can get to know one another, let me introduce our teachers to you.

"Ms. Jane and Ms. Candace will be teaching out Infant A class which is 6 to 12 months. Ms. Camille and Ms. Jennifer will be teaching Infant B which is 12 to 18 months. Ms. Carly and Ms. Ruth will be in Toddler A which is 18 to 24 months. Ms. Sarah and Ms. Faith will teach Toddler B, 24 to30 months. Preschool A, 30 to 42 months will be taught by Ms. Jen and Ms. Robin. Severus and myself will be teaching Preschool B 42 to 54 months. And Ms. Irene and Ms. Cynthia will teach Pre-K. All this information is on the 'Getting to know your co-workers' page in your welcome packet.

"That said I'd like you to spend today decorating and organizing your classrooms. All the items you have packed in your trunks have been brought in by houselves and placed into your classrooms. Houselves will also be bringing by lunch at 11:30 for everyone, which they will also do during the school year. And they will be available to call upon if you find that you need anything during the day. Each class has an assigned elf, and there are a few more employed by the school in general. You elves will introduce themselves to you when you get to your classroom.

"That's all for now. If you have any questions Severus and I will be in our offices. Please enjoy your day!"

Hermione watched still smiling as all the teachers started chatting again and headed off to their rooms. She didn't even notice Snape sneak up beside her until he said in a low rough voice, "House elves, Granger?"

She turned and looked at him un-blinking. "Yes. And they are all being paid for their services."

Severus scowled. That girl was hopeless.

AN: There I hope you liked it! Sorry it took so long to get up! I've been under a bit of stress lately. But stay tuned because next chapter we are going to meet the babies! And believe me that is going to be fun! :D

Also, this chapter is named after a quote from a cartoon that I adore! If you know it then we will be friends forever!


	3. Just a Man

AN: Sorry about the long wait! All I can say is that real life has been toying with me a good deal. I have moved 3 or 4 times in the interim (I can no longer keep track) been working overtime just about every week and on the weekends to the point of physical exhaustion. Been going through crazy situations with family both on my side and my husband's side. And to top all of that off I am now expecting my own little one come January! :D But we have since gotten everything under control and barring moving one more time in a few months, I am settled and ready to write again. This story considers the anime and manga up to the same chapter I mentioned in chapter one of this book. So if you are keeping up with the manga some of the recent crazy has just not happened in terms of this story b/c being a psychic is not one of my talents and I didn't know that would happen when I started this. So without further ado, here is your chapter.

Oh, and I don't own it.

**I'm Just a Man, I'm Not a Hero**

Tuesday morning found everyone in the entrance hall of the small school once more. Breakfast was again set out buffet style and Hermione Granger was encouraging teachers to mingle and get to know one another. Severus scoffed at the idea and stood on the sidelines observing everyone.

He was amused to see that Ms. Granger was wearing some funny pants and some sneakers under her robes. It looked as if most of the other teachers had heeded her warning to "dress comfortably from here on out," too. And they shouldn't forget sensible shoes! Bah! Severus stood buttoned head to toe in his teaching robes. If they were good enough for teaching at Hogwarts they were good enough for this education mockery.

Once Hermione was satisfied that everyone—Severus excluded—was properly mingled, she asked everyone to take seats.

"Good morning! I hope everyone got a chance to finish decorating their classrooms yesterday as well as get to know their co-teachers," her smile was as annoying as always, "if not, then there will be more time today and tomorrow to add the final touches. First I wanted to talk to you a little about our goals. Our motto here is 'Helping young minds achieve greatness!' And I truly hope that we can foster these children and help them learn a strong basis for a healthy education. But just like Hogwarts, we are more than just a school; we are a community. It is my hope that the children who come here will think of us as a second family, as a place to be comfortable, to have fun and to learn.

"I also hope that as educators we spend some time getting to know our kids individually. Get to know their likes and dislikes, and to get to know their habits and interests. If we all reach out to these children, we are making a difference in their lives."

Severus rolled his eyes. This all was a bunch of rubbish, Children were children and that's all there was to it. To hear Hermione talk, they were encouraging prodigies, not babysitting other people brats. Yet there was some part of him that was effected by her words—which was why he had to mentally lash out against her all the more.

Hermione's talk went on and on as she went over proper ways to relate to children, discipline strategies, potty-training requirements and so on. Finally the speech was at an end and it was time for lunch. During training they were not required to stay full days, but Hermione had asked everyone to stick around for lunch because she had an activity planned.

Once everyone had eaten, Hermione asked them all to sit in a circle on the floor while she passed out pieces of parchment, quills and ink wells to each person.

"Alright, let's begin. This is a teambuilding activity that I hope will strengthen our community. If you look at the top of your parchment, you will notice that it has your name on the top. Everyone will pass their parchment to the left. When you receive a parchment, look at the name and write something good about the person whose parchment you have. They are to be anonymous, so you don't have to feel odd about it. The ink I have given you is semi-invisible ink. It will remain invisible for one hour and then darken, so no one else will see what you wrote. Are there any questions?"

Severus narrowed his eyes at the ridiculous witch across the circle from him; he would have to find some way to repay her for this. Of course, she wouldn't like it very much.

He looked at the first piece of parchment 'Ms. Camille' and on it he scribbled. _Your hair is curly._ The second piece of parchment said 'Ms. Ruth" and he wrote _You don't talk too much._ As time went by, he began to get increasingly annoyed and his comments weren't so nice.

Ms. Carly: _You aren't too tall._

Mr. Dan: _You're not a woman. _

Ms. Candace: _I like your shoes; they remind me of my grandma._

Ms. Jen: _You smell better today than you did yesterday. _

Ms. Sarah:_ It's barely noticeable that you've had your physique magically altered. _

Ms. Cynthia: _Thank you for wearing conservative robes. _

Ms. Jennifer: _I admire your thrifty nature and that it doesn't bother you that you haven't been able to afford new stockings these last, what three years?_

Ms. Faith: _I'm sure the baby will look just like you! _(Severus knew very well she wasn't pregnant.)

Ms. Irene: _Congratulations on your engagement! They say third time's the charm! _

Ms. Jane: _ You are living proof the muggles were correct about gravity. _

Ms. Robin: _When you laugh you throw your head back, which saves us all from looking at your face. _

Though none was worse than the comment he left "Ms. Hermione": _ Since your time in Hogwarts, you have become better at coercing people into liking you. I know it must be hard making friends when you constantly feel the need to prove yourself better than everyone around you. But the way you go out of your way to make sure they don't feel bad that they aren't as smart as you is truly endearing. I'm sure everyone labors under your illusion that you actually care about people and their rights, and no one knows that you really just need constant attention to have any sense of self worth. But who wouldn't when that's all they have? _

She would know it was him, there was no doubt. But he wanted her to know. It was about time someone put that nuisance in her place so she would stop making a fool of herself on projects that were bound to fail.

An hour later, Hermione and Severus were both in their summer classroom, and Hermione was dutifully going over where everything in the room was and how it worked. When she was trying to explain and ask his opinions on how they would introduce projects to the class, Severus reminded her that their earlier exercise would now be complete.

Hermione wore the same bright smile she always wore when she retrieved her parchment. Severus watched as after a moment the smile faltered and the ceased. Her brows knitted, and she began blinking a lot as if something got in her eye. This was the moment he was waiting for. After she read his comment things were sure to get interesting.

But instead she merely looked up, blinking a few more times to hide the tears that were threatening to spill over, and said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry, if you'll excuse me I have some paper work to attend to in my office. Please, continue to familiarize yourself with our room." Then she turned to leave without waiting for a reply.

As he watched her go, he saw her hand come up and rub her eye. She must not have been able to hold back the tears for long. The reaction wasn't the one he'd had in mind. He thought Hermione was one to fight tooth and claw; he'd forgotten how vulnerable she could be. All of a sudden he began to have a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Sighing, he sat down in a tiny chair at the children's worktable. As he glanced down he noticed a piece of parchment, which read "Mr. Severus" at the top. He scanned it looking for the only entry that interest him among the scribbled "You're a true hero"s and when he read it, he felt even heavier.

_Even during my time at Hogwarts, I respected you as a brilliant mind. I further admired you for demanding excellence of all your students, even though you were unpopular with my peers. But your involvement in the war has made my respect for you grow. Not in your capacity as a war hero, but as a man. And I have always admired your intellect. Even if it seems a little odd, I am glad for this opportunity to work closer with you and to get to know you more as a person as all my previous attempts have been cast aside. _

He was torn. Part of him was mad that she would write it, regardless of how she felt. The other part was upset because he knew she was sincere. As odd as it was Hermione was one of the few witches or wizards who had extended a hand of friendship to him merely because she wanted to get to know him. Everyone else was interested in his status and the stories they had heard.

But he hated her more for being so honest about everything. And he hated her more for making him feel like a jerk. He knew he was being unfair. But it was just like being in his time at Hogwarts again. The only thing he could do when forced to interact with her was belittle her and antagonize her. Of course he realized this was all due to her attachment with Potter in her school days, and being part of a Gryffindor group. But she had more than proved herself a capable witch. And her annoying friends were no longer hanging around her every moment. Could he try to see Ms. Granger as her own person and not lump her in with her friends? (After all she had never refused to look past his former associates, the Death Eaters.)

Severus shook his head. It was only the first week of summer and already she was driving him to distraction.

­­­­

Three hours later, when most of the other teachers had packed up and left for home, Severus knocked on the door to Hermione's office and entered before she could even answer.

"Ms. Granger, about before, I just…" but Severus's voice trailed off when Hermione's head snapped up and she was looking at him not with the distraught eyes he'd expected to see but with eyes full of anger.

"Don't. Just Don't." She attempted to ignore him and began sifting through papers on her desk.

He meant to say, "Ms. Granger, my comment was uncalled for and spiteful. I should not take my frustrations out on you," but as soon as he started to speak, Hermione slammed her hands down on her desk, pushing herself to her feet.

"Enough!" She looked him directly in the eye and started walking toward him as she spoke. "Now you listen and you listen well, Severus Snape! For years I have tried to be nice to you, to make conversation with you, even to try and befriend you. And you have done nothing but spit each attempt in my face. I have never belittled you, or spoken ill of you, or taken advantage of you as plenty of others have. And I was never nice to you out of pity or guilt or anything but genuine interest. And not even once did you accept graciously—hell even begrudgingly—what I was trying to offer.

"Well, that's it! I am through! I'm through being nice to you! Through trying to help you out! Through taking interest in you and trying to get to know you! Through! As far as you are concerned, out side of that classroom and these walls, I do not exist! Outside of here, do not talk to me; do not look at me; do not even think about me! I refuse in any way to acknowledge you. You will find that I am not so needy of friends to require the attention of an overgrown petulant child!" With that, she brushed past him and left the building.

Severus stood there dumbstruck. He hadn't expected Hermione to react in such a manner, and he definitely didn't think she had enough of a backbone to put him in his place. After his initial shock at her reaction, the meaning of her words finally began to sink in.

_Well fine! That's exactly what I wanted anyway: Hermione Granger out of my life! _Even as he thought it, he knew it seemed juvenile. Damn her! Something about her made him act like a teenager again and he didn't like it.

He gave a frustrated grunt and turned and walked toward the castle. A few hours in his lab would do him good.

The rest of the week passed rather oddly. Hermione remained oddly civil to him at work, though she made it more apparent that she'd rather socialize with their class elf Nodd than with him. He spent the week assuring himself that it was exactly the way things should be.

He had only run into Hermione a few times outside of the Preschool and true to her word, she did not acknowledge or even look at him. Dinners in the Great Hall were awkward as only a very small portion of the main staff was residing at Hogwarts this summer. Hermione sat between Hagrid and Minerva and chatted merrily with the two while he remained on Minerva's other side. Even when Hermione spoke to Minerva, her gaze never passed far enough to reach Severus.

The only time outside of dinner he saw Hermione was one evening in the library. She hadn't even looked up from her book when he entered the room to see whom it was. It seemed that her word was as good as ever and that Hermione Granger was no longer concerned with Severus Snape.

This was a fact in which Snape took much joy, until he realized that he'd now be facing a room of toddlers with someone who no longer cared about him.

Monday came all too fast. Severus Snape had no wish to meet his students. But there he was standing in the class with Nodd, awaiting his first children. Hermione, as director, was taking the morning to greet and welcome every parent/child pair and help them find their room.

Severus was suddenly nervous. He had faced thankless years of annoying pre-teens and teenagers and countless meetings with irate and sinister Slytherins, yet the idea of having a bunch of three year olds under his care for eight hours a day turned his stomach into knots.

The first small feet stepped over the threshold of the Pre-School B class and Nodd was on his feet taking the child's bag and putting it into her cubby. For her own part the child walked into the room, holding tightly to her mother's skirt while her eyes turned here and there taking in all of the room.

"Come on.." he began in his best gentle voice as he stretched out his hand and waited for the mother to fill-in the name.

"Laine." The mother supplied.

"Laine. Let's go sit down and wait for some more … _friends." _That was the word that Hermione was insisting they all use for their students. Something about creating a positive atmosphere.

The child tentatively reached out a little hand and grasped Severus's pinky, following him timidly to the alphabet carpet that Hermione said they should all be brought to.

Soon, the mother slipped away unnoticed, not sure if it was better to say bye or just go on the first day. Laine looked nervous too as she sat with her hands in her lap as if she was afraid of touching anything.

"Uh… here." Severus said as he took out a small bin of blocks and sat them down in front of her. The girl stared at them for a moment and then back up at Severus and Severus found himself thinking that it might actually have been the most awkward moment he'd had with a female yet. After her curiosity was satisfied, she picked up a block and sat it on the rug. Soon, it was followed by another one.

As soon as Severus let out the breath he was holding and told himself he could do this, more little feet rounded the corner.

The next girl was unlike the first. She all but ran into the classroom pointing to herself and saying "Hi! I'm Abby!" There was no need for Severus to coax this child into the room, she was already helping Nodd put her bag into her cubby—though from the expression the elf was wearing, she might have been more of a hindrance. It was an amusing site.

The mother turned to look at Severus smiling. "Thank you so much for all you are doing. It's hard to leave little Abigail, but when I found out you would be working here, I knew she'd be safe no matter what." She laid a gentle hand on Severus's arm. "It means so much to me to get back into my life. I'll see you at five."

Severus had forgotten, in anticipation of the children coming in, that he'd be dealing with their parents too. He readied himself for a long morning.

Hermione, it would seem, was a natural with little children. All she had to do was look at one and it would begin smiling. Severus on the other hand stood disgruntled on the side of the Alphabet mat.

"Now I want you all to say good morning to Mr. Severus."

She was answered by a chorus that remotely sounded like, "Good morning, Mr. Sev'rus."

"And I want you all to say good morning to Ms. Hermione," she added indicating herself.

"Good morning Ms. Ha'mione." It was a fair start.

"Now I want you to remember that there are lot more children here than at home so we need to be a little more careful here, but we can also have more fun! We need to keep our hands to ourselves and remember to share with our friends."

Hermione smiled at the children and they all looked up at her with wide-eyed anticipation.

"First thing we will do today is centers. See this tag?" She held up a tag with a picture of a kitchen on it. "This tag is for the center for housekeeping. Can anyone tell me where to go if you wear this tag? Remember to raise your hands."

The kids looked around the room and finally a girl with blonde pigtails raised her hand

"Yes, Lizzy?"

The girl answered in a soft voice pointing across the classroom, "There where the picture is the same."

"Very good Lizzy! Come up here." As the girl made her way up to the front Hermione continued speaking. "Each tag matches a picture on the wall. When you get a tag you will go to that center and you can play there with a few friends who get the same center. You wear the tags like this." And she took the long string attached to the tag around Lizzy's neck like a necklace. "Lizzy you may go to your center."

Hermione proceeded to give tags to the children one at a time for centers. And it seemed that there were centers for housekeeping, dress up, puzzles, computers, and reading. As she began passing out tags and sending children to the appropriate places Severus felt a tug at the bottom of his robes and peered down the length of this tall body at the little hand clutching his robes.

A small boy with round hazel eyes looked up at him. "'scuese me," he said, for his mother taught him he must be polite, "we have the same!"

"I'm sorry?" Snape said with an imposing look that was lost on the child.

"We have the same." He repeated and pointed at his teacher saying "Mr. Sev'rus," and then to himself adding, "Harry Sev'rus."

Severus scowled. That morning, the mother had introduced the small boy simply as "Harry." Severus was not inclined to like the idea that this child was named after himself, especially that he shared that honor with Harry Potter. But he was yet unaware of how popular the name "Severus" had become in the past few years along with the names "Harry, Ronald, Hermione, and Albus." People loved to name their children "strong names" that built character.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping that he could keep a headache from coming on.

To make matters worse the whole day, Hermione only spoke to him to order him about and ask him for things. He had no say in this classroom, not that he wanted one. He was merely ordered about like a bloody house elf, and he felt it was a waste of his time.

This interaction continued on for a week, before Severus finally snapped. Friday afternoon after the last child went home, Hermione asked him to wipe the tables while she cleaned off the counters. Finally Severus threw his rag down on the table.

"Get the crayons, clean up the glue, take Charlie to the potty. Damn it woman I'm not a house elf!"

Hermione looked at him quizzically. It was more than he had said to her all week.

"I am not here to be ordered about like a servant!"

"Severus I was just asking you to help around the classroom which is why you are here. To help."

"To help. Not to serve woman!"

Hermione was loosing her patience. "Well you have to do something you can't just sit there and do nothing!"

"Well if I'm here to help then let me do stuff. Don't make me your errand boy!"

"If you don't like it then maybe you should actually get up an do something then!"

"If you weren't rushing me about maybe I could do something other than run about the classroom!"

"Fine if you want to do things then you can teach them Monday!"

"Yeah well I will! AND I bet I can do it without needing a classroom slave the way you do."

Hermione was shocked. She had nearly gone out of her mind all week trying to keep them occupied and orderly without Severus so much as lifting a finger of his own volition to help. "Are you saying that you could teach this class better than me? You who didn't even try to help this week?"

"Yes I am. If you can do it, then it can't be that hard!"

"You couldn't even manage to get through a week trying to get those kids to listen to you, the way I did." Hermione went back to washing her counters turning her back to Severus.

Severus, who did not like being dismissed, crossed the room in three strides and turned Hermione around quickly backing her against the counter she had been cleaning. "I'll have you know that I could very easily control this classroom for the week and have it more orderly than you did this past week."

Hermione was tired and a bit stressed out from the week and did not appreciate being treated in an aggressive manner. "Alright then. Next week they are all yours." Then she threw the rag into the sink and left.

It was only after she left and Severus calmed down a bit did he realize that he had just took on the task of being head teacher all week. How did that damn Granger get him to willingly take on things he had never wanted to do in the first place? Damn.

AN: So there is the new chapter. The next should be up the middle of next week/next weekend. AND we get to see Severus in the classroom with the babies. That will be fun! :D SO I hope you liked it so far. And again sorry for the delay.


	4. Schemes and Schemers

AN: Just as soon as I posted last chapter, my computer cord broke. I ordered a new one, so it's on the way. I am trying to type this on my husband's computer, so we will see how quickly it gets done. But the next chapter may take a few days longer than expected until I can use my own computer again

I own nothing!

Chapter 4: Schemes and Schemers

Severus walked into the Three Broomsticks at exactly 11:33 am the same way he had done every Saturday for years. He walked in without so much as a glance at Madam Rosmerta or any of her employees, and went straight for the dark booth in the back where he always sat. Two minutes later, Rosmerta had sent someone over with his usual drink—coffee, black. And by 11:40 a plate was set in font of him: turkey sandwich with lettuce, one slice of provolone cheese, with a pickle and French fries on the side. When the thin brunette walked over with the plate, he barely glanced up at her.

Severus Snape was by no means Madam Rosmerta's nicest customer, but he was a regular and a more than decent tipper. In the beginning, she had treated him like every other customer who visited her bar, but she soon found that Severus liked routine and hated having to repeat himself. He had told off just about every girl in her employ when they tried to take down his order, making most of them to upset to focus on any other order. It was after the fifth consecutive week that her waitress on call spent her afternoon on the verge of tears screwing up orders that Madam Rosmerta decided to take matters into her own hands.

Unlike the young witches that worked for her, she had s good memory for both regular customers and regular orders. So she began to prepare Severus's meal when she knew he'd be coming and had her waitress simply deliver the order. It kept her employees from becoming a blubbering mess and Severus tipping well and coming back.

It was a good thing that Madam Rosmerta treated Severus thus, or the whole establishment would have been in for a shock today. He was still quite sore about the conversation with Ms. Granger the previous evening and quite out of sorts that this slip of a woman thought she could boss him around. The fact that technically she was his boss in this situation did not lessen his indignation any.

That snooty little brat had tricked him! And she was obviously hoping he'd make a fool of himself. Well he would show her! How tough could a group of three-year-olds be? Really. It certainly couldn't be that big a challenge if Hermione Granger could do it. Anything that witch could do, Severus Snape could do ten-fold better! At least that's what he thought.

In reality, he knew that the letter of the week was "B" and that the children were supposed to work on counting from one to ten and work on recognizing the pictorial representations of the numbers as well. How he was supposed to convey this to a group of threes was beyond him. But if Hermione had them all knowing "A" last week as well as the numbers one to five then he should be able to do the next step. Maybe if he remembered what she did, then he could steal—er, improve on—her methods.

But try as he might, he could remember nothing of her lessons. He remembered when he had to fetch things, he remembered taking every kid in the class to the toilet, but he did not remember what she had done or how she had done it. Damn. Maybe he could get his hands on a pensive later.

It was then that a strange noise floated to his ears. The noise itself wasn't strange, for it was nothing more than a laugh, but hearing that particular laugh here was unexpected. Severus quickly cast a Notice-Me-Not spell on himself and took and glanced at the door. Hermione Granger had just entered with Mr. Dan, the receptionist from the preschool.

He was too far away to hear what was being said but from what he could see they were laughing and having a generally good time. He watched as Hermione tossed her head back with laughter, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. Soon a bar witch came over to them and got their order and left the two alone to chat. Severus watched as Hermione talked animatedly not only speaking, but gesturing wildly with her hands trying to make her points clearer. He took in the pleasing way her eyes lit up as she spoke and the flush that came to her cheeks brought on by talking quickly and smiling broadly. It all was quite disgusting.

The bar was a place he came to every week and now his lunch was invaded by the one person he least wanted to see. And to top it off he was here fretting about teaching next week—if you could really call it that—and Hermione was here parading about and acting like a floozy.

Soon the barmaid came back and set a piece of chocolate cake in front of Dan and a sundae in front of Hermione, and was further repulsed when Dan offered Hermione the second bite of his cake holding out his fork for her to try it. Hermione leant forward and ate the proffered bite from the wizard's spoon simultaneously brushing her hair back out of the way. Apparently the cake was good because her large eyes grew even wider and she licked her lips through the ecstatic smile that good chocolate cake tends to put on a woman's face.

At this point Severus didn't really know why he was watching anymore and could only muse that he was so disgusted by the witch's display that he simply could not look away. The whole time the two ate, Severus's eyes were fixed on the young people, and he breathed and audible sigh as they paid and exited the bar. Surely they'd head straight to that wizard's place and doing things not worth mentioning.

Lifting a hand to massage his brow, as if being relieved from a particularly encompassing spell, Severus cleared his thoughts and lifted his Notice-Me-Not spell. A barmaid came over in no time and left a small piece of paper on his table not bothering to say one word to him. With a scowl, Severus dug the appropriate change from the small satchel inside his robes and quickly left the bar to apparate back to Hogwarts.

As he left, Madam Rosmerta eyed him curiously. It was 12:45 pm, the potion's master should have been gone and hour ago.

Hermione was really enjoying her shopping trip with Dan. They had been to almost every shop in Hogsmede and bought something at nearly every one. The day before, Dan had mentioned he had something semi-work related he wanted to talk about and Hermione suggested they meet the following morning for coffee to discuss it.

They had met early, around nine, in a coffee shop one end of Hogsmede called Hot Spots Café and found a secluded table on the side to properly discuss matters. Once Hermione was settled with her coffee with milk and sugar and Dan with his iced coffee drink, there was nothing left to do except discuss the matter at hand.

Dan started off nervously. "I know that this school is only a week old, and a lot of the rules and boundaries are still being set in place but I have something I wanted to ask you about. I decided it would be good to be upfront, and get your blessing first. Of course if you say no I completely understand and I will never mention it again."

Hermione nodded glad for the honest approach. "Sure Dan, go ahead."

Dan swallowed a bit more of his drink and went on. "Well I don't usually do this. Actually it's been years since I got involved with any one, and even then it was only one person seriously for a while. and it ended amiably of course but it did end. And I've been nervous about asking again, but I am thinking of nothing else. But I only want to if it is alright…"

Hermione struggled to follow his thoughts and where he was doing before arching an eyebrow and asking. "Dan?"

The young wizard shook his head as if trying to shake his thoughts back into place, "Right. Okay. I'm interested in someone. I wanted you to know that this isn't just some passing fancy or fleeting inclination, I feel very seriously about this person. And if I have the opportunity I would be pursuing this person, not as a booty call"—here Hermione snorted into her drink trying not to laugh— "or anything of the sort but for a real relationship."

Lowering her cup, Hermione nodded. "And I take it that this is someone from the preschool, or it wouldn't concern me."

He nodded. "Not one of the teachers, though I don't know if you would like that anymore. But it's a parent."

Hermione bit her lip trying to think if this was something she could allow and at the same time mentally filing through the enrollment trying to remember which kid had a single mother. After a pause she spoke. "I suppose if you really are serious enough about it to come to me then you really do have honorable attentions." Across the table the wizard nodded. "And I trust you can use the upmost discretion, at least until you feel this relationship out."

"Oh of course," Dan replied adamantly.

Hermione thought a little more. She would hire the parent of one of the kids, and she probably would hire someone who was an involved person in the life of a child. So why not allow him to date the parent of a child if his intentions were serious. "And this isn't about chasing tail. I wouldn't want the mothers here to be thinking that they have to worry about being hit on or picked up. I wouldn't want you to make the relationship know at work to the other parents for this reason unless of course it did get really serious."

"Of course," Dan said, "I fully understand."

Nodding Hermione replied, "Well there's one thing left then." And she paused long enough for Dan to look at her with a question in his eyes. And she leaned forward smiling, "Who is it?"

Dan laughed more at ease now that Hermione seemed to be going along with this. "Well, the child is Jake O'Riley from the twos." And he watched as Hermione sifted through her mental catalogue and finally hit a match.

"Wait you mean..."

"Yes, Jake's father isn't really his father at all. Jake's parents were killed in a car crash a year and a half ago. Jake's Godfather was his mother's brother. And since Mr. O'Riley, Charles, wasn't likely to have any kids of his own, he adopted Jake gladly."

"He told you all this?"

"Yes. As well as why he was unlikely to have kids of his own."

She looked Dan over one more time from his dark hair to his sincere brow eyes and the way he dressed nicely—professionally—but nothing extravagant. There was noting in his actions or manner of speaking. In fact, had he not told her out right, Hermione would have never guessed the wizards preferences.

They chatted about this a little longer and then trailed onto other topics and before either knew it, they had become fast friends. Hermione found that she liked that she could be herself around Dan and not worry about his intentions. It was nice because she had always had an easier time making friends with guys than girls, and now that Harry and Ron were Aurors—and thus busy all the time—she found that she was missing out on having a readily available friend.

Soon their coffee-meeting turned into a foray into Hogsmede and an enjoyable trip that ended with a stop for mid-day desserts at the Three Broomsticks.

"I don't care what new diets they are talking about in Witch Weekly, I like my desserts and I am sticking to them!"

Dan laughed glad that his newest female friend was down to earth and not obsessed with clothing and diets. "And it's sticking to you," he told her, pointing to her lip which she promptly licked clean.

Yes, overall it had been a quite enjoyable day and both Hermione and Dan were hoping that the would get to do it again sometime soon. It was even enough to make Hermione forget al her frustrations with Severus Snape for the rest of the weekend.

Monday came and Hermione found herself standing at the reception desk not worried too much about getting to the classroom early as that was Severus's problem today. She leaned over the desk to talk to Dan in a low voice, so no one would overhear. "So when are you planning on talking to Mr. O'Riley?"

"Well I am going to give him a letter asking him to meet me sometime this week, since I didn't want to ask him out right here."

Hermione nodded, "Yes I think would be for the best. Will you do it today?"

"If my nerve doesn't fail me."

Hermione smiled reassuringly and put a hand on his shoulder.

It was then that Severus Snape walked into the building and if his scowl was missing previously, it was quickly replaced at the sight of Hermione and the receptionist bent low talking in whispers. Bad enough that they were shagging, but did neither have the decency not to bring it to work.

Severus walked past them quickly, brows drawn, knocking into Hermione on the way.

As Hermione righted herself, standing up and fixing her clothing, Dan looked at her quizzically. "What was that all about?"

"With that man, it never has to be about anything."

"I feel sorry for you. Why didn't you pawn him off on one of the other girls?"

"Well I have orders from McGonagall to keep him here and I thought putting up with him would be easier than hiring new teacher every week."

Dan laughed at Hermione's spunk. Then the sound of the door opening and the first parents dropping off their kids meant it was time for work.

Hermione greeted the parents and when they were on their way, turned back to Dan, "I better go before he destroys the whole classroom."

Sooner than he would have liked, the kids were in the classroom ready for his instruction. Sixteen pairs of little eyes looked up at him.

"Good morning," he began gruffly, "I am Mr. Severus. You probably remember me from last week. I will be teaching you today."

The kids sat quiet regarding him for a moment before one boy shot his hand into the air.

"Yes, Billy."

A blond boy spoke, "Misser Se'us, are you Miss Ha'mine's brother."

"No. Why would you think that?" But before Billy answered another hand was up. "Susan?"

"Mr. Sev'us are you Miss Mione's father?"

"No I am not."

And before he could say anything else another kid called out, "Are you Miss H'miney's husband."

"No!" He all but growled. "I am nothing to Miss Hermione."

At this point Hermione was holding her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh as Severus Snape's scowl had no affect on three-year-olds. She decided to save him. "Boys and girls, Mister Severus is my friend. We teach together." The kids nodded satisfied. They didn't understand acquaintances, or working with people you didn't like. They understood friends.

Severus scowled at her, she at least would get the meaning of his dirty looks. But Hermione merely lifted an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue.

"Alright," he started unenthusiastically, "Today we are going to learn about the letter B." There was a brief case sitting next to his chair and from this he grabbed a few pieces of poster board. Holding up on to the class, he asked. "Who can tell me what this is? Karishma?" he asked as a dark haired girl raised her hand.

"A ball!" she announced happily.

"Very good. How about this one?" He looked at the few hands in the air. "Michael?"

"Bug."

"Good Michael. Now this one." Three hands went up, but a few of the kids began looking around the room, bored by the time they got to the third slide. Some kids began to get fussy. One started to put his hands on his neighbor. But Severus was looking for hands in the air, not hands getting into mischief. "Justin?"

"Bat!" he said at the same time that someone started screaming.

Severus was so startled that he dropped his pictures, and jumped up. A few kids covered their ears at the offending noise and a couple started to laugh behind their hands. Singling out the distressed kid, Severus made his way climbing over the children on the run until he reached one screaming girl.

"Hannah, what's wrong?"

But the girl just kept crying.

"What happened?"

There was still no response.

"Hannah what is going on?" his voice was raising now as he was losing his patience.

Suddenly Hannah found her voice and it was quite loud. "I… WANT… MY… MOMMY!" And then she continued to cry even louder than she had before.

Severus looked about but there was no help only big child eyes looking at him wondering why he wasn't fixing Hannah. Suddenly a boy sitting nearby also started crying, "I want my Mommy too!"

Panic began to fill Severus and he turned wildly to look at Hermione. She was standing in front of the ABC rug, arms crossed over her chest. He pleaded with her silently to come to his aid. The infuriating girl merely tipped her head to the side in question. Did he want to risk and entire class of threes getting upset? He did not. In perhaps the smallest voice that had ever escaped the Potions Master he begged, "Help me?" When she didn't move immediately, he added, "…please."

Apparently that was what Hermione was waiting for because she walked over to the sobbing girl, kneeling so she was a better height, and pulling the girl into her arms. In a soft whisper she asked, "Hannah what's wrong?"

And when the little girl shook her head Hermione stroked her hair and said, "If you tell me what's wrong I can fix it. If you don't tell me, I can't do anything."

Hannah peeked out from behind Hermione and pointed at the boy on the floor who was crying, he had been sitting right behind Hannah. "Jacob kicked me!"

This accusation prompted more screams from the boy. "No! No! I Didn't! I… want… Mommy!"

Hermione looked kindly at the boy. "Jacob, did your foot maybe touch Hannah, but you didn't mean for it to?"

The boy nodded sadly, but heartened when Hermione smiled at him.

"We call that an accident. Jacob, you aren't in trouble, but could you tell Hannah 'Sorry it was an accident.'?"

The small boy nodded. "Sorry it was an abadent."

"Accident," Hermione corrected.

"Axadent," the boy said.

Then she turned to Hannah, "What do you think Hannah?"

"That's okay," the girl said gaining control over her crying now.

Once more Hermione smiled and looked at Jacob, "Can you make Hannah feel better?"

Jacob got up and walked over to Hannah and gave her a hug. Then the two sat down with no more tears.

Severus was transfixed by this small exchange. Somehow Hermione was able to communicate with these small creatures as if they were real people.

As Hermione walked back up to the front of the room, Severus noticed that all the kids had gotten chatty and a bit out of hand. He cleared his throat loudly. Had he been in his potions classroom, every child would have looked up at him with fear in their eyes. Here, he was simply ignored.

Feeling generous, Hermione came to his rescue once again. In a loud but cheerful voice she called, "Alright, my friends, let's all catch a bubble with our mouth."

To Severus's shock, every kid on that rug puffed out their cheeks as if making a monkey face. Why would they do that? And then he noticed how quiet it had gotten. That bit of craziness had actually been clever.

Hermione continued, "Let's make sure our feet are criss cross apple sauce," all the kids shifted so they were sitting on their bottoms with their knees folded in front of them, "And let's turn our listening ears on." All the children touched their ears and made a clicking noise with a tongue before they resumed their bubble. "Now, Mr. Severus is going to teach you about the letter 'B' today and we are going to do fun 'B' projects during the week."

All eyes turned to Severus, and it took him a moment before he realized that all the children were waiting for him to teach them.

At lunch that day, Severus got the nerve to talk to Hermione. It was the first time he had attempted to talk to her at the school, not counting the previous week when he snapped at her. "That was really something today. The way you handled those kids."

Hermione could rub it in his face that he couldn't get through one lesson without her help. She could condescend him and tell him he wasn't the best at everything and that he thought way to much of himself. She could do many such a thing, but Hermione was a better person than that. "Thank you," she said sweetly.

"Where did you?"

Picking up on the question Hermione obliged. "My aunt owns a preschool in Kent. I worked there during the summers while I was at University. It was where I really became interested in child development. I even took child development classes at a Muggle University nearby my own."

"Child development?" The term itself seemed a little funny to him. "Don't you mean growing up?"

Hermione had expected this sort of question. "Yes and no. Every child has the capacity to grow up in any way they choose. But a lot of how the child grows up has to do with what the parents do with the child. For instance, when a child learns to read early it is a good indication whether a child was read to or encouraged to read. In that same way, you can help children reach a high potential if you facilitate their learning. "

This was all a lot to take in and Severus sat quietly thinking about it. As he thought Hermione continued.

"The younger the child is the greater his capacity for learning. I also wonder too if the same might apply to magical development. If children exposed to magic at a very young age could have a greater magical ability than that child normally would. Or if perhaps every child has a magical ability, just like every child has the capacity to learn, but the ones who turn out to be wizards are the ones who's growth unknowingly stimulates the development of magic control. That does link magic to the cerebral though and I'd have to go much further into the theory of magic before I could create anything to theorize."

"I suppose you have taken theory of magic classes too. " And then in a thoughtful voice Severus added, "It would account for the number of muggle born wizards every year."

"As a matter of fact I have taken theory of magic classes at both magic and muggle universities. And before you ask about the muggle, they assume that magic is indeed a fabrication, though one that many people believe whole heartedly in. And they analyze the documentation of the use of magic in various different cultures not just our modern wizarding one. Though the approach assumes that magic is impossible, it assumes that the people who preformed it believed it real and they theorize from there. A different approach, but a fascinating one all the same."

Severus blinked, "You really strive to incorporate the best of everything don't you."

She replied with a shrug. "My mind refused to let things lie distant. Anything that can cross over and might cross over it does."

Snape narrowed his eyes at her, "Then you have either the mind of a theorist or a psychotic."

"Why Professor Snape, I do believe that is the nicest thing you have ever said to me."

Just then a loud crack of thunder interrupted their conversation and made them both realize they had been talking agreeably for forty minutes and lunch was well past over. Hermione stood without another word and began clearing away trash and lunch plates and Severus followed her lead without being told. He remembered her saying something about not having to order him about if he took initiative, and he really hated being bossed about.

Since it was not only raining but thundering and lightening too, they would not go outside to recess. So Hermione declared it a fun day and time for a movie. There was a collection of muggle movies in the closet as well as the box Severus recognized as a muggle television set—as a kid he had tried to avoid all things muggle about his past but some things he remembered from his muggle father.

Hermione had put in a cartoon about a wizard who was tutoring a scrawny little boy. The story was positive muggle, but even Snape found himself chuckling at the couple parts he managed to see. He refused to sit down until he noticed that Hermione had quit making herself busy and decided to relax. Taking her lead, he sat down on the floor behind the kids.

It was a few minutes after he sat down that a small girl with her hair cut to her ears climbed up on his lap.

"You remember me?" she said.

The week before, the girl had said to him "Hi, I'm Abby," every time she saw him. So finally he took to saying, "I remember you." The result of which she now asked him every time, "You remember me?"

Severus sighed, "Yes I remember you Abby."

After climbing into his lap she began to put her hands all over his face. "Abby sit down and watch the movie," he grumbled taking her hands and removing them from his face.

But she didn't sit. Instead, she studied him hard for a moment, before grabbing at his face and practically catching her fingers in his nose. "Your nose is too big."

With an annoyed grunt Severus pushed the child off of him. But it didn't work for long. Soon she had crawled behind him and started climbing onto his back, her knees digging into his spine and her hands clutching at his hair as if it were a rope.

"Abby what…" he began as he reached behind him and pulled the girl off.

When he finally got her around, the tiny girl was staring at her hands as she opened and closed them slowly. Then she finally looked up at Severus and with a very serious expression said, "Your Mommy should wash your hair."

Sever started to turn red with anger, but before he could say one word, the small girl ran over to him and kissed his cheek "I love you!" she said quickly before running back to her group.

Damned little brats were going to be the end of him.

The interaction was enough to put him in a sour mood the rest of the day and he even made the mistake of being flippant with Hermione during their lessons. He immediately received a glare and knew that he would pay for it later.

Hermione got her vengeance at the end of the day when Nicholas spun around several times quickly got dizzy and sick all over himself and the floor. It was Severus who had to clean up the crying child and the floor. Just as Severus had cleaned him up, Nicholas's mother came in and he had to spend half an hour talking to the mother about what happened and assuring her that this strange behavior was normal and she did not need to go have a mediwitch check her son for sickness or brain abnormalities.

An irate Severus stormed back into the classroom later to find the children gone and Hermione cleaning up. He crossed the room in three angry strides ready to lay into Hermione, and soon found a hand laid softly on his chest.

The sudden and gentle contact startled him and he felt his anger ebbing away slowly. The predictable little Gryffindor saw that he had a rough day and was coming around about the helping in class bit. She was going to tell him to relax and take it easy.

Instead what came out of Hermione's mouth was this: "Severus, it's 6:15. You are no longer my problem." With that she used her hand to push past him and walk toward the door.

Severus's anger returned stronger than ever, he had to take it out somehow. He stalked after her into the hallway calling, "That's right 6:15, you've got to get going so you can lift your skirts for you little receptionist by 6:30."

Stamping a foot Hermione turned around so quickly that Severus had to stop short least he topple them both over. "What?" she said her teeth gritted together.

He lowered his voice to what he liked to consider a dangerous tone, "You heard me. I saw you at the Three Broomsticks throwing yourself at him. Your behavior practically screamed, 'Fuck me now! Why wait?'"

Her eyes narrowed as she warned, "Severus Snape, you are way out of line!"

Assuming from her reaction that he was right he continued, "I always knew you tried to hard to get people to like you, but I didn't think that even you would let someone into you knickers just to keep them around."

Hermione hardly knew what came over her, she heard the sound of her palm slapping across the Potions Master's face and saw his head turn sharply to the side before she realized what she had done. Her eyes widened in shock for half a second before she figured, in for a Knut in for a Galleon. "You are much to apt to believe the worst of people!" she practically spat at he wizard who was still reaching for his face and recovering from the shock.

Then the angry witch strode down the hallway and, making sure Severus could see everything from his spot in the hall, she grabbed Mr. Dan by the front of his shirt pulling him to his feet. Knowing that neither would gain any pleasure from what she was about to do, she mouthed "play along," before pulling him down to her and kissing him full on the lips.

Before the receptionist could ask what happened Hermione pulled him roughly out of the building.

Snape just stood there shocked watching them go.

"Honey, what was that all about?"

"Filthy insolent, fucking pratt. Who does he think he is?" Hermione practically growled.

"Whoa, Kitty, pull in those claws!"

"Sorry Dan. He just makes me so mad!" Hermione sighed. It wasn't fair to keep yelling now that Snape was gone.

As she calmed down Dan put an arm around her shoulders and they continued walking toward the castle. "That bad?"

Hermione nodded. "He basically called me a tramp."

"Now that is not okay! Is that why you slapped him?"

"Yeah."

"And where do I fit in?"

"He thought I was shagging you."

Dan laughed at the absurdity of the situation. "Really? I know I'm not the most flamboyant crayon in the box, but at least he should have been able to tell something."

Hearing him laugh, Hermione's mood lightened and she began to laugh too. "Ah, what am I going to do about him?"

Dan stopped and looked at her. "Oh! I know exactly what we are going to do with him. We are going to let him have his assumptions and have a little bit of fun at his expense."

"Go on…" Hermione said a glint of mischief overtaking her eyes.

The two walked on planning out exactly how they were going to get the better of Severus Snape.

AN: ^_^ And now a little plan to teach Severus what it means to assume things. this chapter was fun to write. So I will write more as soon as possible. I have some big plans for Hermione and Severus.

So let me know what you think. Want to see more of the kids? More of Severus teaching? More Hermione and Dan planning things out? Next chapter will be quite interesting. ^_^

Thanks for reading! let me know how I'm doing!


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